1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus for fighting forest fires. More specifically, the present invention comprises an apparatus for pulverizing and hurling soil to stop the spread of a forest fire.
2. Discussion of Background
Uncontrolled forest fires can destroy large tracts of standing timber and thereby affect wildlife, the atmosphere, soil and water conservation, residential homes located in areas in the path of the fire and human life. Fighting forest fires in remote areas can be especially difficult logistically when roads are few and water is unavailable or insufficient.
Fire breaks have long been used to establish a gap between adjacent sections of a forest so that, if one section is consumed by fire, the adjacent section might be spared by the inability of the fire in the first section to cross the break.
Fires can be put out with a number of materials, including water, fire-retarding chemicals, and dirt. Dirt snuffs out the fire when applied to fallen trees, branches, grasses. Dirt, being generally free of dry fuels itself, can halt the spread of a fire in much the same manner as a fire break. Dirt is also readily available in and near forests.
There are several apparatus for use in fighting forest fires that excavate a quantity of dirt and throw it toward the path of the fire. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,656 Banahan discloses an apparatus that uses beaters between and coaxial with disks to cut and pulverize dirt and hurl it through a guide chute. Hurlbert, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,561,701, describes an apparatus that uses scrapers to loosen and a rotary brush to sweep up dirt and dust for blowing on a grass fire through a spout. French patent 88-093642/14 issued to Gerard is for an apparatus that cuts a trench in the ground. His self-propelled apparatus has scrapers and a conduit for blowing the dirt loosened and pulverized by a cutter chain and a grinder to the side.
There remains a need for a device for excavating a trench large enough to provide sufficient dirt for fighting fires and for pulverizing and hurling the excavated dirt as directed.